The Therapist
by Twilight's Inferno
Summary: Sixth months after the war Hermione finally convinces Harry to go to therapy of all things. But will it be for better or worse?


**AN: So…here's my new story. I kinda just came up with it one night and the plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone. Now it's different than my other stories, none of it is prewritten ahead of time but I have a basic idea. I have no clue how long it will be or where exactly it will take me, so I'm just kinda on for the ride on this one. Hope you'll ride it with me.**

**Disclaimer: All belong to JKR, except the plot that's mine.**

Chapter 1- Session One

"Come on Harry, you promised." Hermione said tugging on my arm to pull me out of her car acting like she was eleven again, it made me smile briefly.

"Yeah…but I don't know about this anymore Hermione." I said unsurely, planting my feet outside the door of the seemingly completely normal therapist's office. Hermione sighed and gave a characteristic eye roll,

"You're not getting cold feet now, you told me you would do this. There's nothing to worry about, Ron and I did it." She said reassuringly and looked up at me, her brown eyes big and kind of pleading. I looked at her for a moment then groaned,

"Alright fine, just because this is so important to you." I grunted, she gave me a dazzling smile and together we walked into the office building. Hermione walked us right up to the counter,

"Harry Potter is here for his appointment." My best friend said cheerfully. Yes I, Harry James Potter, was going to therapy. It had been almost six months since the war and Hermione finally convinced me to take at least one session after all this time. I gave in after her constant requests, she thought it would be good for me.

"Harry Potter." A women's voice called, I looked up from my chair next to Hermione in the waiting room. Getting up to follow the women, I hesitated before continuing down the hall and looked back at Hermione, who gave me a reassuring nod and smile. I gave a nervous smile back and continued back into the office

She came up to an open door made of dark wood, I moved around her to get a look in. It was a large office, the lights were slightly dimmed, the walls painted a light brown color, bookcases were around the room, sports posters on the walls, a deep brown plush leather armchair was on one side of the room, a heavy mahogany desk facing the wall on the other side, the chair at the desk was a tall leather office chair that spun around. Harry guessed it was so the man sitting in it could turn from his desk to whoever was sitting in that chair.

"Harry Potter is here to see you Doctor." The women said and the man looked up. He was about mid-forties with thinning dark brown hair, pale grey eyes, and a friendly face. He was wearing a white dress shirt, a grey tweed blazer, and black slacks with matching dress shoes. He smiled and stood up approaching me,

"Hello Mr. Potter, I'm Dr. Oliver Howell. You can call me Oliver if you want." He said nicely taking me into the room.

"It's nice to meet you Dr. Howell." I told him politely though my voice was slightly strained from how tense I was.

"Would you like to sit down?" He gestured to the plush leather chair. I slowly walked over and sat on the edge of the chair, I felt ready to bolt. Mr. Howell sat down in his desk chair and spun to face me with a notepad.

"So you're a wizard?" I asked him curiously, he nodded.

"Yes, I'm the wizard therapist here as this practice belongs to a muggle-born witch." He answered politely, I shifted a little uncomfortable. There was a long awkward silence then finally he cleared his throat and continued, "So Mr. Potter, you've been very adamant in past interviews that you're not going to therapy. What's changed?"

"My friend finally convinced me to do it." I muttered a little.

"And who was this friend?"

"Hermione Granger." I said like it was obvious, Dr. Howell looked at me curiously then wrote something on his notepad, "Um, can you not do that?" I asked. I felt like a test subject when he wrote, like some kind of freak.

"Of course." He said putting the notepad on his desk then looked back at me, "Let's start there then, with your relationships."

"I'm afraid I don't understand." I looked at him slightly confused

"Like your friends or…Ginny Weasley for example. She was stated to be your girlfriend before the war, but is she now?" He asked like we were just talking over lunch.

"No." I said slowly, we never got back together but I could tell Ginny was still expecting me too.

"Why not? Do you not like her anymore?" He sounded genuinely interested,

"Well…I don't know. So much has changed after the war, I've changed everything's changed. I've considered picking up the relationship again but it just never felt right." I shrugged, I tried to be vague about it. I may be here but I wasn't going to spill my guts out. Dr. Howell seemed to get my hint I wasn't going into it more because he moved on,

"And what about your friends, Ron and Hermione?"

"They're good…"

"Tell me about them."

"About them? Well Ron…he was the first friend I ever had. He's a good guy, funny, and….loyal." I said, I didn't mean to hesitate on the last point and inwardly cringed when Dr. Howell's eyebrow rose,

"You don't seem confident in his loyalty." He stated simply, I didn't answer. Hermione and I hadn't told anyone about Ron leaving us in the middle of the forest, we decided not to discuss it. It brought back uncomfortable feelings and doubts, we were trying to move on.

"It's nothing. Just a slip up." I told him firmly, I wanted him to move on and forget it. He looked at me for a minute and then thankfully pretended it hadn't happened.

"And what about Hermione?" He asked, I couldn't help the small smile that came to my face.

"She's my best friend. She's brilliant, kind, slightly nagging, incredibly loyal, and…well there's a lot I could say. She's been with me through everything, she's the reason we won the war." I said, I'd answered this question many times in interviews, who was Hermione.

"That's quite a big statement." Dr. Howell said with a slightly surprised tone.

"Yeah, I know. But I couldn't have completed what I needed to do to defeat Voldemort, I would've died a long time ago without her." I said with a nod. We all agreed to not tell anyone about the Horcruxes, we didn't want anyone to use those dark objects again. The doctor nodded taking in what I said.

"I suggest you talk to Miss Weasley. Leaving her waiting isn't fair to her or you." He told me, I looked down my insides squirming guilty. I knew it wasn't fair, she's been waiting six months after all.

"I know…" I muttered.

"Well I think that's it for today Mr. Potter." He said and I looked up surprised.

"What?" I asked, he smiled a bit at my surprised tone.

"This isn't supposed to be excruciatingly long or miserable." He joked and I smiled a little,

"Right. Yeah it wasn't too bad." I said standing up, he smiled and stood up too.

"It was good to meet you Mr. Potter. I hope you'll come back." He shook my hand at his office door.

"Yeah, maybe I will." I said with a small smile then left to meet Hermione in the waiting room.

Later that evening Hermione and I sat in a small muggle café we both liked, having some tea and a sandwich. We were at our usual table in the back by the window, I liked this place because of the good food and no one recognized us.

"Alright Harry, I've held off long enough. How'd it go?" She asked, I could hear the curiosity in her voice just killing her.

"Fine." I said shrugging and trying to contain my smile, I knew that answer would drive her wonky.

"You know I want more than just a fine Harry." She playfully slapped my arm from across the table. I smiled at her.

"Okay, okay. We didn't really talk about too much, just my relationships with you, Ron, and Ginny. It wasn't that in-depth surprisingly." I told her honestly bewildered by the whole therapist session.

"Well I doubt you were giving him anything to work with really." She teased me and I shot her a glare, "You know I'm right." She said and I just shook my head at her.

"Yeah maybe a little." I grumbled and took a drink.

"So you talked about you and Ginny?" She probed, I knew this was going to happen.

"Yeah, he told me to talk to her. That I shouldn't lead her on."

"Are you two getting back together?" She asked with that expression on her face when she studied me.

"I don't know yet." I said looking down, I could feel Hermione's eyes on me, but I didn't want to say what I thought might be the answer.

"Well…are you going to go back next week?" She asked softly, I looked at her and sighed.

"It wasn't…awful. So yeah I guess." Hermione beamed at my answer,

"Good because I already set up your appointment." She said with a grin,

"Really Hermione?" I asked but couldn't contain my smile.

"You know I do it just because I care."

"I know Hermione. I know."

**AN: This was harder to write than I thought. Having never been to therapy I just kinda had to play with it and I tried my best to keep them in character but after Hogwarts with no Voldemort it's kinda hard to know what they'll act like with no real worries in the world. But I did my best I think. Hope you all enjoyed, please review**


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